Snowstorm delays flights to Washington D.C.

Pedestrians walk through the snow during a snowstorm blanketing the East Coast in Washington D.C., Dec. 19, 2009. Forecasts called for up to 50 centimetres of snow across the region, including Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and reaching up to New York. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan)

A sightseeing bus passes in front of the Capitol Hill during a snowstorm blanketing the East Coast in Washington D.C., Dec. 19, 2009. Forecasts called for up to 50 centimetres of snow across the region, including Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and reaching up to New York. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan)

A girl walks through the snow during a snowstorm blanketing the East Coast in Washington D.C., Dec. 19, 2009. Forecasts called for up to 50 centimetres of snow across the region, including Washington, Baltimore, Philadelphia and reaching up to New York. (Xinhua/Zhang Yan)

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 19 (Xinhua) -- A snowstorm has caused one airline to delay all fights from three Southern California airports to Washington D.C., the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) announced on Saturday.

The delay dealt a blow to the busy Christmas-week travel season which has just begun.

By midafternoon, all flights headed to Chicago's O'Hare International Airport were delayed. The airport is the transit point for flights to Washington D.C.

The planes headed to Chicago were being kept on the ground in California an average of one hour, said the FAA.

Earlier in the day, Virgin America scrubbed all flights into and out of Dulles International Airport, in the Virginia suburbs.

The airline flies nonstop daily from Los Angeles International to Dulles, and offers connecting service via San Francisco from San Diego and Orange County in Southern California. Los Angeles passengers may also change planes to fly on to Florida on Virgin America.

The company did not say how many flights would be affected. Fees for changing reservations have been waived, the airline said on its Web page.

A cold storm is expected to drop as much as two feet of snow in northern Virginia.

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